Since its launch in 2006, Hoops Haven has become a staple of the New Jersey basketball community. This is the place to find breaking news, analysis and links about college and high school basketball in the Garden State.

Now Hoops Haven’s five thoughts from the RAC, followed by Mike Rice’s transcript and quotes from several Scarlet Knights:

1. Give Mike Rice credit: He’s not afraid to set public goals. A winning record in the Big East this season seems like a lot to ask, but confidence is contagious and Rice is showing confidence in his young squad.

2. This is Dane Miller’s team. Talk to the junior, or watch him interact with players during practice, and you can sense the leap he’s made in terms of maturity. He watched and learned from Jonathan Mitchell last year. Hey, the guy is shooting around in the RAC until 4 a.m. some nights. That right there tells you something.

3. Get ready to read a lot of Austin Johnson quotes this winter. The junior forward is articulate and engaging. Along with Miller, he’s a leader in the locker room.

4. Those who stuck around to watch practice got to see one of Rice’s best drills. He pairs the players and has one try to dribble past the other down a narrow full-court strip (marked off by cones) until there’s either a layup attempted or a turnover. There’s lots of contact and, at times, some startling individual moves.

5. The Rutgers media guide is looking good. The cover features a photo (taken by intrepid Targum photographer Yee Zhsin Boon) of Rice high-fiving the crowd after the Villanova shocker. Also on the cover are action shots of Dane Miller and Gilvydas Biruta. The guide is dedicated to Brayden Carr and includes a moving page-two tribute to him. Nicely done by all parties.

PLAYER QUOTES

DANE MILLER:

“You’ll see me shoot the ball a little bit more, you’ll see me attack the rim more, but you’ll still see the same unselfish Dane, always trying to get somebody a better shot. On the defensive end you’ll see an animal. Basically I’m going after every block, every rebound. I don’t think I’ll have to ask Coach Rice to put me on the best player out there. He just will.”

“If somebody is open, I’m going to give them the ball. I don’t care how many people want me to shoot. That’s how I am.”

On adjusting to Rice’s system: “It was tough the whole year. As a freshman Coach Hill went to me a lot. I went from some games being the first option to Coach Rice and his system, and we weren’t really running as much for me. I struggled offensively to understand what he wanted me to do. In the offseason it hit me.”

MIKE KUHN:

On Dane Miller: “He’s definitely grown as a player. His perimeter game has improved but at the same time Dane has that great attacking part of his game. Those two are coming together. As his game improves he’s able to be more of a leader on the court. Guys respect him . . . He works hard. He’s not the most vocal guy but if something needs to be said, he’s not afraid to say it. I think that’s different from last year. Last year maybe he didn’t say something but now he does open his mouth a little more.”

JEROME SEAGEARS:

On being part of this blockbuster freshman class: “It’s definitely a great experience, a great situation for all of us. Being able to come in and play right away and contribute, I think it’s going to be good for us in the long run. We’re going to make the best of it.”

On adjusting to Rice’s practices: “Pretty intense, but it’s his passion for the game. He loves what he’s doing. It definitely came as something new to me. I definitely had to adjust to it. But it’ll be a great season as long as I bring my intensity to practice.”

MYLES MACK:

“It’s been very intense for me, the way Coach Rice runs practice. I love it.”

Compared to Coach Hurley: “Their intensity levels I think are both equal. Coach Hurley is more of a set offense. Coach Rice is more of an up-and-down style.”

(Playing for Hurley), “it prepared me. When he gets in my face it really doesn’t intimidate me. I just look at him in the eyes and take in whatever he says.”

On being part of this freshman class: “It’s really exciting. Since this summer we’ve been getting to know each other better.”

ELI CARTER:

On adjusting from Hurley to Rice: “They’re very demanding, both of them. They’re not going to let you take a day off.”

On Dane Miller’s leadership: “When you see the best player on the team working that hard, you want to work just as hard as him.”

MIKE RICE TRANSCRIPT

Here is most of the transcript from Mike Rice’s press conference. He made a 12-minute opening statement and then took questions…

“I’ve learned a great deal my first year as Rutgers basketball coach. I found out I have the best home court arena. When a Big East head coach commented on how he could scream out his social security number and nobody could hear him, I know I had something to build upon atRutgers.”

“I have decisions to make during the offseason, whether to go recruiting or whether to go on golf outings. People laugh at my handicap and my swing, but they know for the foreseeable future I’m going to be grinding it out on the recruiting trail.”

“If I learned anything in my first year, you can never have enough talent in this league, whether it’s individual talent or depth of talent.”

On last year: “Although they lacked physical talent and depth of talent, last year’s team showed me, showed my staff, showed the Rutgers community that my formula worked, that our formula worked.”

“The first thing is playing with an urgency and a toughness, as hard as they can for as long as they can . . . second is playing for each other; how can my teammates succeed? . . . Lastly, probably the hardest to change, is playing with a purpose and a passion for Rutgers University. It seemed like they didn’t take it personally when they didn’t get the result they wanted—were defeated. To have a pride in Rutgers basketball, which I think had been lacking.”

“A reporter asked me at Big East media day, how can you top last year’s season? Steam started to come out of my ears. Maybe the perception was we got he most out of our team. We did accomplish things that will help Rutgers basketball in the future.”

“The hardest thing is getting my returning players to teach my philosophy, mentality, to the younger players, the newcomers. We certainly have an improved overall depth of talent. It’s getting those guys to buy in.”

“That brings me to expectations for this season and the future. No one expects more than I do. I expect to win every game, or at least be competing in every game . . . I’m aware of the hurdles or obstacles we face, not having a senior on the roster, playing multiple freshmen at the same time. We all know young teams lack consistency. I’m aware of that.”

“But we definitely don’t want to lower any expectations. We’ve created I think an energy and a buzz about this program, whether it’s turning away people for Midnight Madness, or the overall buzz we’re getting talking to students or to season ticket holders. Or having them play summer league games in a packed gym in Monmouth County.”

“I also want to mention the development off the court, and it’s just as good as our development on the floor. We had a 3.0 team GPA last year, our three seniors graduated on time, we have service projects our athletes are embracing. After Big East media day we went to Robert Wood Johnson and for three-and-a-half hours they put smiles on the faces of the doctors, nurses and patients . . . this team gets it. It’s an enjoyable team to be around.”

“On our schedule: It fits in with what I want my program to do. We want to add exciting nonconference opponents to our schedule. You have to prepare yourself to play in the nation’s best basketball conference, and you do that by scheduling quality opponents in your non-conference.”

Question from media: On the ups and downs of having six freshmen:

“That’s exactly what it is, ups and downs. But the fun of it is developing them. I’ll take two freshmen, Malik Kone and Derrick Randall. I don’t know if I said a nice thing to them for the first five days of practice, and yesterday all of a sudden you saw movement. They were making the same mistakes. It’s a grind at times t get them to play consistently, to get them to buy into the details. But certainly overall with the talent they have, it’s exciting every day to see these guys become better.”

On who will provide leadership:

“Leadership will be a process. No question it will come from me and my staff. I think Dane Miller and Austin (Johnson), all the upperclassmen for that matter, they understand what they freshmen are going through. They’ve been very good to date. But as far as controlling the locker room like some of the seniors I’ve had, no we don’t have that right now.”

“Right now we’re worried about ourselves too much and not about the overall, but that’s going to change. Dane Miller is somebody hwho has ben through this. Austin Johnson has been through this. They understand the decisions you have to make to be successful.”

On goals for this year:“It’s coach talk, but daily improvement. I have to understand if I was on somebody particularly hard that day, they still have to listen to me, they can’t tune me out. It’s a delicate balance.”

“We have to have a winning record in the Big East. I put it on them—it hasn’t been done here. I think we have the talent, not necessarily the experience. I’m not going to put a number on it, but if you tell me at the end of the year that we didn’t, I’ll be upset. No one will be more upset about it than me. If we do that, the postseason will take care of itself. That’s what our goal is; I’m not going to shy away from it.”

On Kadeem Jack’s injury:

“I don’t know I’ve had a freshman come so far from when he stepped on campus. He was my hardest worker. He would be in the gym longer, do more extra sessions, attack his weaknesses. It hurt. Coach Carr and I tried to do a history lesson. Who atRutgershad the potential and athleticism that Kadeem has? You have to go back a long way to find somebody. Now he’s certainly a work in progress but he has tremendous potential, from offensive rebounding to sprinting the floor to being the front man on my press. It will hurt but that’s why you recruit hard, that’s why we recruit depth. Some of the other freshmen will have an opportunity to show what they can do.”

On pushing the pace:

“It’s an attacking system. It fits my personality and aggressive style. We’re going to play 10 or 11 players this year. We’ll attack offensively, defensively, switching an d attacking, trying to dictate to opposing teams. We’re going to swing big. We’re going to swing hard at times and we’re going to hit. At times it won’t look as polished as it needs to with the younger guys.”

“It’s not instinctive yet. They’re embracing buying into what we’re trying to teach, our formula. I don’t see major changes, except hopefully a lot more wins and a lot more point scored. We did play a little too slow for my taste last year.”

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About the Author

Jerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.Email Jerry.